Manufacturers Urge Govt To Improve Infrastructure, Encourage Investors In Jos MAN AGM
The Oasis Reporters
September 6, 2018
By Moses Gbande
The Federal Government of Nigeria and the State governments have been called upon to work in synergy, carrying along relevant stakeholders, in fashioning out appropriate strategies to improve and stabilize the country’s economy.
President Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Dr. Frank Udemna Jacob, ( MON) who made this call in Jos, during the 33rd Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, decried the negative effect the current recession poses to the manufacturing sector.
He said though the year 2017 consolidated the post-recession performance of the economy, the manufacturing sector still reels uneasily from the effects of the recession.
He urged the Governors of the zone, comprising of Bauchi, Benue, Plateau, Borno and Adamawa states to step up efforts to encourage more investment in manufacturing by providing incentives in infrastructure that would encourage investors as well as taking a closer look at the regulatory functions of ministries, departments and agencies of government that encourage investors.
The 33rd AGM, with the theme, “Unstable Economic Policies, Insecurity In Nigeria, Bane To The Sustainability Of The Manufacturing Sector”, had Major Gabriel Adofikwu, a security expert and Managing Director and CEO of Damex Consultants Limited, as the Guest Speaker.
In his welcome speech, the Managing Director Adama Beverages limited, Alhaji Ahmed Jarma expressed worries over the multiple taxation on the manufacturing sector as well as high power tariff coupled with insufficient and poor quality supply causing low performance of industries.
Represented by Mhir Iyenge, he appeals to the Plateau state government to carry out road maintenance at the Industrial Layout of the Jos international Breweries location to ease the transportation of goods from factory locations to the market.
‘’ In the light of the above mentioned , there are many moribund industries cut across seven(7) states within our branch which have been truncated by one issue or the other ranging from financial constraints to lack of patronage.
“We call on both the federal and state governments to wade into this matter by reviving these industries as they do not only generate revenue or improve the economic base of the state aside providing gainful employment to it’s teeming population but equally provide necessary goods and services to cater for human needs’’.
In his remarks, the Plateau state government through the permanent secretary, in the ministry of commerce and Industries, Samuel Ibrahim commended manufacturers for their contributions to the growth of the state, promising that as a government they will not relent in creating an enabling environment for their businesses to thrive.